This invention relates generally to a dot printer of the type using wires to impact against a print medium and and more particularly, to a wire dot printer having an applicator mechanism for applying liquid ink to the ends of wires in a matrix to enable the wires to print characters and other symbols on the print medium, that is, paper without the use of an ink ribbon. On June 16, 1981, applicant filed a U.S patent application Ser. No. 06/274,322 for a wire dot printer which uses no ink ribbon but applies liquid ink directly to lateral surfaces of the wires and thence to the wire end by capillary action for enabling the wires to effect printing. The wire dot printer described in the earlier application is advantageous in that it does not have those problems which can be caused by the use of ink ribbons, and is capable of printing sharp characters and symbols with stability and uniform quality over an extended period of time. However, the quality of printing in the wire dot printer of the earlier application is affected by changes in temperature as such temperature changes affect the qualities and characteristics of liquid ink.
What is needed is a wire dot printer which operates without the use of ink ribbons and is unaffected in print quality by variations in temperature over an extended range.